Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2020

Notes:
As per the 2019 ‘Global Go To Think Tank Index Report’, Indian think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) has been placed among the top 30 think tanks globally, at rank 27.
The report is released by the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. The list was topped by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace of the United States. Last year, ORF was placed at 118th position, more than 90 ranks below the current rank. The Raisina Dialogue, jointly organised by ORF is also ranked 7th best conference globally.

Notes:
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) department of the global tech-giant Google has recently developed a new model to protect the endangered species of killer whales.
The whales, which are also known as orcas are seen in very few numbers in the Salish Sea. Google has partnered with Fisheries and Oceans Canada to monitor their condition and alert experts in the event of sickness or accidents caused to the whales. The trained AI model uses underwater audio and labels to listen to the sounds of the whale and to display its location.

Notes:
The All-Party Parliament Group on Traditional Medicines recently organized a meeting at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting aimed at legalising Ayurveda in Europe and integrating it with their other healthcare systems.
During the meeting, Indian Ayurveda doctor, Dr.Pratap Chauhan was conferred with the ‘Ayurveda Ratan’ award. Several representatives and delegated attended the meeting including the Indian Ambassador to European Union, Gaitri Kumar. Ayurveda Day was celebrated at the European Parliament on November 21, 2018 for the first time.

Notes:
Leading Private lender of India, ICICI Bank recently launched a unique self-service delivery facility called ‘iBox’. Using this facility, the customers of the bank can avail various banking services including- collecting their debit card, credit card, cheque from a nearby branch.
The ‘iBox’ terminals are to be placed outside the premises of the branches, which can be accessed even after office hours. The customer will get an SMS about the status of the package through a completely automated process. These products can be collected by the customers at the time of their choice, on all days including holidays.

Notes:
India and Maldives signed 5 agreements for establishing ‘Addu Tourism zone’ in five islands of Addu atoll. An atoll is a ring-shaped chain of islands formed of coral.
The Tourism zone is expected to be set up at a cost of $2.49 million. It aims at generating local employment and boost the eco-tourism opportunities in Addu. The High Commissioner of India Sunjay Sudhir signed the MoUs with the Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid and Addu City Council. Another MoU to establish a bottled water plant in Hoarafushi was also inked.

Notes:
The Scientists at Indian Veterinary Research Institute (ICAR-IVRI), an institute of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, have recently developed a low-cost vaccine for the classical swine fever. Swine fever is a disease associated with high mortality and illness in pigs.
Until now, the swine fever vaccines have been imported for domestic usage and moreover the imported vaccines are to be administered once in every six months. But a single shot of the new indigenous vaccine would be sufficient for the animal’s life time. This would be an affordable option for the farmers and also assist in pork production and export.

Notes:
Indian Maharatna Public sector enterprise NTPC Ltd has recently raised $750 million syndicated Japanese yen loan, which will help to reduce air pollution from its power projects across India.
This is the highest single-foreign currency loan raised by the enterprise and also the largest syndicated Japanese yen loan raised by an Asian firm. The yen-denominated bond issued in the Japanese capital by non-Japanese companies is called Samurai bond. The loan will fund the installation of Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) system, which will help reduce SOx emissions. New hydro projects and projects using advanced technologies are also set to be established with the fund.

Notes:
A German cybersecurity firm called Greenbone Sustainable Resilience recently published a report on medical data leaks. It revealed that the medical details of more than 120 million Indian patients have been leaked and made available on the Internet.
The state of Maharashtra is placed at the top of the list of states that are affected by the data leak, followed by Karnataka and West Bengal. It also classifies countries in three categories of good, bad and ugly, based on the action taken by the governments after its first report was released. India is placed second in the ugly category.

Notes:
E-Commerce major Flipkart recently shut down its Jabong- lifestyle and fashion e-commerce portal. The users are being redirected to the website of its another fashion company, Myntra.
Flipkart, which is now owned by Walmart, had acquired Jabong for $70 million four years back. As there was a dip in number of app downloads and its business, the portal was closed. Myntra was acquired by Flipkart in the year 2014. After it was bought by Walmart, Flipkart had merged Myntra and Jabong.

Notes:
The fifth edition of the India-Russia Military Industrial Conference was recently organised in the northern Indian city, Lucknow. The Conference was organised on the sidelines of the biennial Defence exhibition DefExpo 2020.
As many as 14 MoUs related to production of different defence equipment, radar systems, ASW Rocket launchers and 3D modeling were signed between the companies from India and Russia. Among several Indian companies, the prominent ones which signed the agreements were BHEL, Bharat Dynamics Limited and Vista control.